Arts & Entertainment
Calendar: May 25
Parties, exhibits, concerts and more through May 31
‘Platform Walkers,’ a piece on display now at Touchstone Gallery. (Image courtesy Touchstone)
TODAY (Friday)
The HIV Working Group will be doing outreach at Town’s (2009 8th St., N.W.) Bear Happy Hour this evening. Happy hour begins at 7 p.m. and tickets are $5. For more information, visit towndc.com or thedccenter.org.
Special Agent Galactica plays happy hour at Black Fox Lounge (1723 Conn, Ave. N.W.) this evening from 6 to 9 p.m. She will be performing music that includes artists like Duke Ellington, Ell Fitzgerald, Cole Porter and the Beatles. The performance will be free admission with full food and drink services still provided. For more details, go to pinkhairedone.com.
Phase 1 ( 525 8th St., S.E.) hosts a “Dance Party with DJ Saylo” tonight. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $10. For more information visit phase1dc.com.
The Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) hosts the National College Dance Festival 2012 starting today through Sunday. There will be a performance today at 2 p.m. and another at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25. For more information visit kennedy-center.org.
A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor hosts a live broadcast in the Filene Center at Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Rd.,Vienna) starting at 8 p.m. Ticket prices for the event ranges from $25-$55. For more information visit walftrap.org.
Marcus Johnson, a jazz musician from Washington, plays tonight at the Hamilton (600 14th St., N.W.). The show starts at 8:30 p.m. and tickets are $27.50. For more information visit thehamiltondc.com.
Saturday May 26
Positive Women Making Positive Choices hosts a family pride picnic and “celebration of love, commitment, family and community,” at Ft. Washington Park (13551 Fort Washington Rd., Ft.) today from noon to 8 p.m. Activities include kickball, volleyball, tug-of-war, three-on-three basketball and face painting. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.
Burgundy Crescent, a non-profit organization for LGBT volunteers, helps at Food & Friends today. Food & Friends (219 Riggs Rd., N.E.) feeds more than 1,100 people living with AIDS in the District and the surrounding area. Burgundy Crescent will be volunteering twice today: from 8-10 a.m. and from 9:45 a.m.-noon. Those wishing to volunteer should email to [email protected].
Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) hosts a swimwear fashion show tonight exhibiting new 2xist swimsuits courtesy of Universal Gear. Music will be provided by DJ Chord. Doors open at 10 p.m. and cover charge at the door is $8 and $12 after 11 p.m. Visit towndc.org for more details.
Black Cat (1811 14th St. N.W.) has “Stereosleep” tonight at 9 p.m. Tickets are $10. To buy tickets or to find out more details, visit blackcatdc.com.
Sunday May 27
The D.C. Center has this month’s Food for the Soul: Soul Session Sunday Brunch fundraiser today from noon-3 p.m. at Tabaq (1336 U St. N.W.). Admission is free but there will be suggested donations. For more information, go to thedccenter.org.
African-American Collective Theater performs at the Warehouse Theater (1021 7th St., N.W.) for the final time this evening at 5 p.m. and again at 8 p.m. This is their first D.C. Black Pride Theater Showcase where they will be reading the most recent plays by Alan Sharpe. Tickets are $15. Details can be found at thedccenter.org.
Black Cat hosts Pygmy Lush on its backstage tonight at 8 p.m. Tickets are $8. For more information, visit blackcatdc.com.
The Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) hosts the National Memorial Day Choral Festival today at 3 p.m. to commemorate those who served the country. The event is free, but tickets must be reserved. To reserve tickets or get more information, call 800-395-2036 or visit memorialdaychoralfestival.org.
Monday May 28
HIV+ Newly Diagnosed Support Group meets tonight at Whitman-Walker Health (1701 14th St., N.W.) at 7 p.m. This is a confidential group for anyone who has been recently diagnosed with HIV. People of all sexual orientations and genders are welcome. The group requires previous registration. For more information, call 202-939-7671 or go to whitman-walker.org.
The play “Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play” by Anne Washburn opens at Woolly Mammoth (641 D St., N.W.) tonight at 6 p.m. The play showcases a post-apocalyptic world without electricity and how the survivors cope. Usually tickets would start at $30, but tonight is the theater’s special offer of pay-what-you-can. Tickets start selling at 5 p.m. and only two tickets will be sold per person. For more information or to buy tickets, visit woollymammoth.net.
Tuesday May 29
Today is the last day to check out art exhibitions “It’s My Nature” by Kate McConell and “Vivid Horizon: Color and Light” by Colleen Sabo at Touchstone Gallery (901 New York Ave. N.W.). For more information, go to touchstonegallery.com.
D.C. Center hosts a FUK!T Packing Party tonight from 7-9 p.m. at Green Lantern (1335 Green Court N.W.). FUK!T or TOOLK!T packets are safe-sex kits given out in Washington to combat HIV/AIDS. For more information, go to thedccenter.org.
Western Affairs plays Black Cat (1811 14th St. N.W.) tonight at 8. Tickets are $8. For more information, visit blackcatdc.com.
The Bolshoi Ballet opens with “Coppelia,” a comedic story about mistaken identity, at the Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) tonight at 7:30. Tickets range from $29-$150. The show runs through June 3. For more information, visit kennedy-center.org.
Wednesday May 30
Capturing Fire Queer Spoken Word Summit & Slam begins tonight at Busboys & Poets (14 & V St. N.W.). This event is an international poetry festival where queer-identified writers gather for a showcase of poetry slam performances to increase visibility of LGBT performance artists. For more information, visit thedccenter.org/capturing fire.
Art exhibitions “Holding Patterns” by Susan Feller and “Rail Ways” by Shelley Lowenstein opens today at Touchstone Gallery (901 New York Ave. N.W.). Feller’s work focuses on the transitional moments in life where Lowenstein’s captures scenes of people at train stations. The opening receptions for both shows is Friday at 6 p.m. For details, visit touchstonegallery.com.
The Lambda Bridge Club meets at the Dignity Center (721 8th St., S.E.) for duplicate bridge at 7:30 p.m. No reservations are required and all are welcome. Those without a partner should contact the group through lambdabridge.com.
Thursday May 31
D.C. Center and Capital Pride host a town hall discussion tonight at 7 at Hotel Palomar (2121 P St. N.W.). The topic is LGBT youth homelessness in Washington and will include a panel of specialists. For more information, go to capitalpride.org.
Ugly Purple Sweater, a local band that fuses pop music with tight harmony, plays tonight at the Black Cat (1811 14th St. N.W.). Doors open at 8; tickets are $8. Visit blackcatdc.com for details.
The Grammy-winning Zac Brown Band plays Merriweather Post Pavilion (10475 Little Patuxent Pky. Columbia, Md.) tonight. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and tickets range from $42-$77. For details, visit merriweathermusic.com.
Team DC, the umbrella organization for LGBTQ-friendly sports teams and leagues in the D.C. area, held its annual Night of Champions Awards Gala on Saturday, April 20 at the Hilton National Mall. The organization gave out scholarships to area LGBTQ student athletes as well as awards to the Different Drummers, Kelly Laczko of Duplex Diner, Stacy Smith of the Edmund Burke School, Bryan Frank of Triout, JC Adams of DCG Basketball and the DC Gay Flag Football League.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The 2024 National Cannabis Festival was held at the Fields at RFK Stadium on April 19-20.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Covering the @NatlCannaFest at RFK Stadium for @WashBlade . Stop by the LGBTQ+ booth and pick up a paper if you are here. pic.twitter.com/is7hnsaPns
— Michael Patrick Key (@MichaelKeyWB) April 20, 2024
Theater
‘Amm(i)gone’ explores family, queerness, and faith
A ‘fully autobiographical’ work from out artist Adil Mansoor
‘Amm(i)gone’
Thorough May 12
Woolly Mammoth Theatre
641 D St., N.W.
$60-$70
Woollymammoth.net
“Fully and utterly autobiographical.” That’s how Adil Mansoor describes “Amm(i)gone,” his one-man work currently playing at Woolly Mammoth Theatre.
Both created and performed by out artist Mansoor, it’s his story about inviting his Pakistani mother to translate Sophocles’s Greek tragedy “Antigone” into Urdu. Throughout the journey, there’s an exploration of family, queerness, and faith,as well as references to teachings from the Quran, and audio conversations with his Muslim mother.
Mansoor, 38, grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and is now based in Pittsburgh where he’s a busy theater maker. He’s also the founding member of Pittsburgh’s Hatch Arts Collective and the former artistic director of Dreams of Hope, an LGBTQ youth arts organization.
WASHINGTON BLADE: What spurred you to create “Amm(i)gone”?
ADIL MANSOOR: I was reading a translation of “Antigone” a few years back and found myself emotionally overwhelmed. A Theban princess buries her brother knowing it will cost her, her own life. It’s about a person for whom all aspirations are in the afterlife. And what does that do to the living when all of your hopes and dreams have to be reserved for the afterlife?
I found grant funding to pay my mom to do the translation. I wanted to engage in learning. I wanted to share theater but especially this ancient tragedy. My mother appreciated the characters were struggling between loving one another and their beliefs.
BLADE: Are you more director than actor?
MANSOOR: I’m primarily a director with an MFA in directing from Carnegie Mellon. I wrote, directed, and performed in this show, and had been working on it for four years. I’ve done different versions including Zoom. Woolly’s is a new production with the same team who’ve been involved since the beginning.
I love solo performance. I’ve produced and now teach solo performance and believe in its power. And I definitely lean toward “performance” and I haven’t “acted” since I was in college. I feel good on stage. I was a tour guide and do a lot of public speaking. I enjoy the attention.
BLADE: Describe your mom.
MANSOOR: My mom is a wonderfully devout Muslim, single mother, social worker who discovered my queerness on Google. And she prays for me.
She and I are similar, the way we look at things, the way we laugh. But different too. And those are among the questions I ask in this show. Our relationship is both beautiful and complicated.
BLADE: So, you weren’t exactly hiding your sexuality?
MANSOOR: In my mid-20s, I took time to talk with friends about our being queer with relation to our careers. My sexuality is essential to the work. As the artistic director at Dreams of Hope, part of the work was to model what it means to be public. If I’m in a room with queer and trans teenagers, part of what I’m doing is modeling queer adulthood. The way they see me in the world is part of what I’m putting out there. And I want that to be expansive and full.
So much of my work involves fundraising and being a face in schools. Being out is about making safe space for queer young folks.
BLADE: Have you encountered much Islamophobia?
MANSOOR: When 9/11 happened, I was a sophomore in high school, so yes. I faced a lot then and now. I’ve been egged on the street in the last four months. I see it in the classroom. It shows up in all sorts of ways.
BLADE: What prompted you to lead your creative life in Pittsburgh?
MANSOOR: I’ve been here for 14 years. I breathe with ease in Pittsburgh. The hills and the valleys and the rust of the city do something to me. It’s beautiful, it’ affordable, and there is support for local artists. There’s a lot of opportunity.
Still, the plan was to move to New York in September of 2020 but that was cancelled. Then the pandemic showed me that I could live in Pittsburgh and still have a nationally viable career.
BLADE: What are you trying to achieve with “Amm(i)gone”?
MANSOOR: What I’m sharing in the show is so very specific but I hear people from other backgrounds say I totally see my mom in that. My partner is Catholic and we share so much in relation to this.
I hope the work is embracing the fullness of queerness and how means so many things. And I hope the show makes audiences want to call their parents or squeeze their partners.
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